


i see the wasp on the length of my arm

by jesse (accio_belle)



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast), the friendzone
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, I hate tagging it's so hard, Inspired by Music, M/M, Pining, i guess?, it is my whole life now, thank u aspen for this song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:33:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25490035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/accio_belle/pseuds/jesse
Summary: Barry turns. Magnus can smell the chlorine wafting off his friend’s skin, sharp and somehow sweet. Barry’s eyes are a little too wide, and his throat bobs as he swallows nervously. Magnus hadn’t noticed before now, but Barry’s blue eyes have flecks of green in them along the edge of his pupils.He’s almost pretty, in a nerdy sort of way.Magnus thinks he likes it.
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans/Magnus Burnsides
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	i see the wasp on the length of my arm

**Author's Note:**

> a magjeans fic because i am the only person on the face of the earth who ships the dumbass nerd and his himbo boyfriend
> 
> title and fic inspiration from [the predatory wasp of the palisades is out to get us!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBse9Y6zucs) by sufjan stevens

It is the summer of 1998, the last day of August, and Magnus James Burnsides is having a pool party.

It’s a small affair, really; a stack of pizzas, a twelve-pack of Coke, and his six best friends in the entire world. The school year is fast approaching, heralding exams and homework and The Fitnessgram Pacer Test™️. But for now, it is still summer. The air is hot and smells of chlorine. When the sun goes down, they’ll huddle around the backyard fire pit and make enough s’mores to feed a small army. Magnus will burn his fingers, like he does every year, and his friends will laugh as he rushes inside to run his hand under cool water.

Some things never change, do they?

We see Magnus now, standing in his bedroom. He’s on a stepstool, poking around the top shelf of his closet, searching for something that isn’t where it should be.

“ADAM!” His yell echoes throughout the house.

“WHAT?”

“HAVE YOU SEEN MY HAT?”

_“WHAT?”_

_“HAVE YOU SEEN MY HAT?”_

“WHAT, THE BLACK ONE?”

“YEAH.”

“NO.”

Magnus sighs. He shoves the drawers shut and stomps downstairs. He knows his brother is probably lying, because his hat (a black baseball cap signed by all the members of his favorite baseball team, the Rockport Rebels) was where it always was: the top shelf of his closet, on top of the shoebox that held his baseball cards.

Magnus’ older brother, Adam, is in the living room playing Super Mario 64. Arms folded across his chest, Magnus inserts himself between his brother and the TV screen.

“You took my hat.”

Adam leans to the left. Magnus leans with him.

“Did not.”

Adam leans to the right. Magnus leans with him.

“Did so!”

Adam pauses the game, glaring at his brother with that kind of annoyance reserved solely for irritating little brothers.

“Did not, dipshit. Mom took it with her, remember? The logo’s stitching was coming apart and she was taking it in to fix.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, _oh.”_

Magnus throws his hands up in frustration. “Well then what am I supposed to do? It’s hot as hell out there!”

Adam groans. He pushes himself off the couch and climbs the stairs, returning moments later with his own ball cap, a red one sporting the logo for the Phandolin Phantoms. He slaps it onto Magnus’ head, pushing the brim down so it nearly covers his eyes.

_“Hey!”_

“Mom said if you get heat exhaustion again, she’s throwin’ my N64 _and_ all my games out the window and driving over ‘em,” his brother grouches, “so I’d better see that hat on your head every second you spend outside, or else you’ll be joinin’ Mario and Yoshi on the bottom of Mom’s tires. _In pieces.”_

Magnus, never one for extreme arguments, agrees. Having heat exhaustion had sucked major ass anyways.

The sliding door opens with a soft _woosh_ , and Lup Taaco sticks her head into the dining room. Her short hair is wet and plastered to her face.

“Maggie, are you coming outside or what?”

His brother pushes Magnus towards the door. “Go have fun with the nerds, snot-for-brains.”

“They’re not nerds! They’re my friends!”

His brother rolls his eyes and heads for the couch again, but Magnus sees the corner of his mouth twitch upwards. As Magnus follows Lup onto the deck, she glances behind them at the closed sliding door. Her eyes narrow.

“Your brother’s kind of a dick,” she remarks, nose wrinkled slightly. He knows she’s not saying it in a mean way, she’s just sorta protective of him, so he shrugs and smiles at her. 

“Naw, he’s just protective in that weird older-brother way.” He reaches up and tugs the brim of his cap down a little further.

“Well, I still think he’s the one with snot for brains.”

Magnus is suddenly, fiercely proud to have Lup as a best friend.

He follows her down the balcony stairs to the pool, where the rest of their friends are waiting. Taako, Lup’s twin brother, is reclining on a watermelon-shaped pool floatie. He waves lazily at Magnus and Lup as he drifts past them.

“Nice cap, Mango,” he drawls. Magnus touches the brim self-consciously. Taako’s his best friend, and always will be, but sometimes his compliments are more like “compliments”, like the thing he likes about you now will be something he mocks you for behind your back later.

Lup crosses her arms. “Koko, don’t be such an ass.” Taako raises his sunglasses, eyes wide and innocent.

“Whaaaaat, I meant it! The Phandolin Phantoms fuckin’ rule.” He winks at Magnus, who grins back. “Didn’t know you switched sides, my dude.”

“Naw, this is Adam’s. Rockport Rebels now and forever!”

“We’ll see about that when playoffs start.”

Lucretia and Davenport sit side-by-side on the edge of the pool, their feet in the water. They’re engrossed in conversation about one of their smarty-pants AP classes. Magnus likes Creesh and Dav; they never complain when he’s late for a study session or when he starts an assignment at the last minute. Taako says they probably ask for math homework for Christmas, but Magnus knows for a fact that Taako’s in the exact same AP classes, so like… hypocrite, much?

Merle is relaxing in a lawn chair, a can of Coke dangling from his fingertips. His sunglasses are pushed up on his sunburnt forehead. Magnus lays his towel on the empty chair beside him.

“You coming in?” he asks.

“Nah, sun feels nice,” Merle replies, stretching his arms above his head. “Be there in a bit.”

“Suit yourself.”

Magnus scurries around to the deep end and cannonballs in, narrowly avoiding Taako on his floatie. The boy splashes Magnus once he resurfaces, causing Lup and Taako to overturn the inflatable watermelon and toss Taako into the drink. Serves him right.

\---

They’ve been horsing around in the pool for a couple of hours when the pizzas arrive. Then they’re sitting by the pool wrapped in towels, each one with a personal pan pizza, passing greasy pizza slices around like currency. Everybody tactfully avoids trying Merle’s super weird veggie combo. Who puts hot peppers and cabbage on the same pizza, anyways?

Magnus takes a massive bite of his favorite chicken-with-green-peppers-and-mushroom-on-alfredo-sauce, laughing with his friends as Taako and Lup reenact the time they successfully switched places at one of their lengthy family gatherings. He leans against Barry, feeling the sun’s warmth dry the pool water still clinging to his skin.

After a while of warming up in the sun, the twins, Barry, and Lucretia hop back in the water. Magnus stays behind to eat more, chatting with Merle about their next biology exam.

“Anyone fancy a game of chicken?”

Magnus’ ears perk up. He abandons Merle and his half-finished slice of pizza to scramble back into the water.

“Dibs on Lup!” he calls, splashing his way down the ladder. 

The girl laughs, sweeping her hair out of her eyes and pinning it back. “A fine choice, Burnsides. Any of you lot want to take us on?”

Taako puts a hand on Barry’s shoulder, who glances nervously at him.

“You’re on, darling sister of mine.”

Magnus ducks beneath the water as Lup scrambles onto his shoulders. He grips her knees to keep her steady.

“Ready, Lup?”

“Ready, Maggie!”

_“Go!”_

They charge forwards. Lup’s hands meet Taako’s in mid-air. They wrestle together, Magnus leaning from side to side to keep Lup steady on his shoulders. The battle rages on for nearly a full minute until Lup shoves Taako off-balance just enough for him to topple off Barry’s shoulders and into the water with a big splash. Lup cackles, victorious, and falls backwards off of Magnus into the water. She surfaces moments later with a huge grin.

“Best! Team! Ever!” she shouts, holding out her hands for a double low-five. Magnus gladly accepts.

Magnus quickly becomes quite the hot commodity as a partner for chicken. He acts as a base for all of his friends at least once, particularly Lup. The two of them together form a nigh-unbeatable team. After a three-way battle with Team Nerd (Lucretia and Davenport), Team Awesome (Magnus and Taako), and Team Trans (Barry and Lup) with Merle as referee, the seven kids are thoroughly soaked and having the time of their lives.

Lucretia and Davenport tap out first, drying off and sitting in a patch of sun together. Merle follows soon after, citing a desperate need for another can of Coke. Taako coerces Lup into a team-up, conversing with her in that secret language that only twins know.

Lup’s eyes lock on the only one of them still in the pool. Her grin is full of shark’s teeth.

“Barry, you wanna partner up with Magnus?”

A slight flush crawls up Barry’s neck. “Okay, yeah, sure!” He wades over to them, taking his glasses off and setting them on the pool’s edge. Magnus ducks under the water again, Barry settling onto his shoulders. 

“Ready… go!”

Taako atop Lup’s shoulders is a fierce opponent. His long arms give him an advantage, but Barry’s smarter. Analytical. He dodges Taako’s unsportsmanlike jabs at his stomach and manages to wrench the taller boy far enough to the side for him to topple over. Lup shrieks as she goes down with him, and then twins make a splash big enough to nearly knock Magnus off balance.

Barry slides off Magnus’ shoulders and stands beside him, chest heaving. Lup surfaces first, shaking her wet hair out of her eyes.

“Nice one, you two,” she grins. Magnus pounds his chest with a fist.

 _“THE UNDEFEATED CHAMPION!”_ he roars, grabbing Barry around the waist and hoisting him into the air. He spins about as well as one can in waist-deep water with a person in his arms. Barry clings to Magnus’ shoulders, laughing.

Something under the water grabs his leg and _yanks_ , sending both Magnus and Barry into the water. They surface to see Taako cackling with glee. Lup stands behind him, shaking her head.

“You should see your faces!” he chuckles, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. Magnus swings his arms around, launching a wave right into Taako’s open mouth. Now Magnus and Lup are the ones laughing, Lup nearly doubled as Taako sputters and wipes the hair from his eyes.

Magnus glances at Barry, expecting to see a smile on the boy’s face. Instead, he looks vaguely shell-shocked. He stares at Magnus with wide eyes.

Magnus puts a hand on his shoulder, brows scrunched in concern. “You okay, man?”

“Uh, I gotta– inside– do something real quick.”

Barry climbs out of the pool and disappears inside. Magnus watches him go.

“Uhhh… did anybody else find that a little weird?” Taako wonders, glancing between his sister and Magnus.

“I’m gonna go check on him,” Magnus says, wading over to the side of the pool and pushing himself up. He spots Barry’s glasses still by the edge of the pool and picks them up. One lens is scratched near the bottom.

Magnus wonders how he hadn’t noticed that before.

\---

He finds Barry inside at the kitchen sink, pouring himself a glass of water. He doesn’t look over as Magnus enters.

“Barold, everything cool?” Magnus asks. “You ran out of there kinda fast.”

“Yep.” The answer is a little too quick for Magnus to believe him. “Just thirsty.”

“You’re sure?”

“Mm-hm.”

“Okay…”

Barry drains another glass without breathing. He sets the empty cup on the counter, staring at the tap.

“Hat looks good on you,” he mumbles.

Magnus fingers the brim of the cap. He hadn’t realized he’s still wearing it.

“Oh… thanks. Hey, you forgot your glasses outside.”

Magnus hands them over to Barry, who slips them back on his face with a mumbled “thanks”. Silence fills the kitchen. Barry’s fingers tighten around the empty cup. Magnus watches a bead of pool water roll down the back of the boy’s sunburnt neck. His throat suddenly feels weirdly tight.

“Barry?”

“Hm?”

_“Barry.”_

Barry turns. Magnus can smell the chlorine wafting off his friend’s skin, sharp and somehow sweet. Barry’s eyes are a little too wide, and his throat bobs as he swallows nervously. Magnus hadn’t noticed before now, but Barry’s blue eyes have flecks of green in them along the edge of his pupils.

He’s almost _pretty,_ in a nerdy sort of way.

Magnus thinks he likes it.

Magnus doesn’t know which one of them moved first. He thinks it was himself, cupping a hand behind Barry’s neck and pulling him in. Or maybe it was Barry, curling his fingers around the collar of Magnus’ t-shirt. Either way, someone did move, and now they’re kissing in the Burnsides’ sun-dappled kitchen. Barry’s mouth is warm, and tastes faintly of Coca-Cola. 

Okay, yeah, Magnus definitely likes it. Holy shit.

They're dripping water all over the linoleum, and Magnus’ mom will probably throw a fit later, but Barry’s mouth is on his and Magnus really truly does not care about anything else right now.

The hair that grows at the base of Barry’s skull is soft as kitten fur.

They don’t do much else other than closed-mouth kissing. Magnus very carefully touches Barry’s lips with his tongue, and is rewarded with a noise from the back of Barry’s throat that makes his knees go a little wobbly. Something tugs in his stomach, a brief stir of _maybe this is what it feels like to give your heart away?_ He’s hyperaware of the entire scene even with his eyes closed. Barry, trapped between Magnus and the kitchen counter. His hand on Barry’s neck. The laughter of his friends outside. Barry’s fingers in his t-shirt. The crisp smell of chlorine. Barry’s mouth. Barry’s skin. _Barry._

Barry pulls away from the kiss first, but they’re still so close together it’s like he hadn’t moved at all. Magnus can feel his friend’s breath ghosting over his face, warm and sweet.

“Magnus–”

“Barry, I–”

And then Barry’s crying.

Magnus’s protective instincts kick into high gear, and he pulls Barry into a tight hug. Barry immediately wraps his arms around Magnus’ waist and holds on for dear life. Magnus feels hot tears drip onto his collarbone. He squeezes Barry tighter. Barry squeezes back.

Lucretia appears in the doorway, mouth open as if to say something. She sees Barry trembling in Magnus’ arms and lingers there, a hand on the doorframe. Their eyes meet.

Her brow furrows. _Is he okay?_

Magnus nods subtly. _Just give us a minute._

She nods back, doing that universal sympathetic slouch of _Poor guy…_ , then heads back outside. Several minutes pass as the boys embrace. Magnus keeps a firm hold on Barry until his sobs slow to the occasional shuddering gasp. Magnus can feel his shirt growing damp from the water still clinging to Barry’s chest.

“You good, man?”

A mumbled affirmation.

“Did I… do something wrong?”

A forceful shake of his head.

“Okay. We’ll just wait here.”

They’re quiet for a long moment, Barry’s head on Magnus’ shoulder, Magnus’ arms around Barry’s waist.

“I–I’m sorry, I don’t– I don’t know wh–y I’m crying?”

“Hey, hey, Barry, that’s okay. Sometimes you just gotta let it out, yeah?”

“Y-yeah. Yeah.”

Barry shudders again, a choked sob worming its way past his lips. Magnus feels it pass through him to the puddles of water on the linoleum floor. He raises a hand to the back of Barry’s head, twining his fingers through the boy’s curls. On an impulse, he presses his lips to Barry’s damp curls. He hears a shaky inhale.

“I’m not mad,” he murmurs, resting his cheek on the top of Barry’s head, “I promise.”

A wasp crawls along the outside window, casting its shadow on the length of Magnus’ arm.

**Author's Note:**

> big hugs and kisses to aspen who put this song in the jukebox and immediately got me hooked  
> more big hugs and kisses to rain who read it first  
> even more big hugs and kisses to isaac, who played folklore for me while i figured out how to tag this fuckin' thing
> 
> i love u all so very very much <3 <3
> 
> if you wanna see me yell about my WIPs, my friends, and TAZ, check me out on [twitter](https://twitter.com/accio_belle)! (currently i have a pretty sweet eugene fitzherbert layout if i do say so myself)


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